Wanderstop

The game's protagonist, Alta, was once an undefeated fighter who spent her entire life training in her craft. Unable to recover from two recent defeats, she seeks the legendary fighter Master Winters to train her, but collapses in a forest. Getting nowhere by continuing to try and push on, Alta is invited to stay and work around the Wanderstop tea shop by its jovial owner Boro, as she attempts to "fix" what is wrong with her.

Wanderstop's cast of characters have stories which play out in multi-step quests. Boro speaks idiosyncratically and is easygoing. The customers include a man named Gerald, who is under a witch's curse that controls his limbs and pretends to be a knight in order to impress his son, who is aware of his silliness; a demon hunter who is left without demons to hunt and instead tries to aid communities through social work; and Nana, an old lady who sets up shop in Wanderstop's clearing, considering everyone a business competitor.

The game designer Davey Wreden released the full edition of his game, The Stanley Parable, in October 2013. Wreden struggled with the game's wide success; six months after release, Wreden began therapy, and took several months of drawing lessons, where he sketched woodland scenes. As early as 2015, composer and sound designer Daniel Rosenfeld, known by his pseudonym C418, had considered creating a video game. He described several experimental concepts, anticipating development would take time.

C418 said he was open to collaborating with others on the ideas. At the same time, Wreden had just released his video game The Beginner's Guide, but had been working for so long he found himself unable to write. In January 2016, he had begun to daydream of going to a tea shop in the woods and lying on a bench by the water, and after sketching variations of the scene, decided that image would become the basis of his next game. Conceptualization for the project began that year.

Wanderstop received a positive critical response. Review aggregator Metacritic calculated weighted average scores of 80 out of 100 for Windows and Xbox Series X based on 43 and 4 critic reviews, respectively, and 79 out of 100 for PlayStation 5 from 21 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. 84% of 76 critics recommended the game, according to OpenCritic. Wanderstop appeared on year-end best lists for 2025 compiled by The Guardian, The Standard, and Inverse.

The characters of Wanderstop were praised. Paste's Elijah Gonzalez called Boro "lovable", praising his nature as a guide and his wisdom mixed with "humility and humor"; the magazine praised two characters who served as mirrors to Alta. Digital Trends's Giovanni Colantonio wrote that Alta was relatable, opining her "brash nature and dry wit" made her the "perfect" barista, and praising the "fully fleshed out cast of characters" achieved by Alta's meaningful interactions with them. Eurogamer's Chris Tapsell wrote that Boro was lovely and constantly remained "pleasant, gentle-spirited and admirably kind", while Edge wrote that Boro was the "clear standout" of the game's supporting cast.